title: Diversity of germ-line immunoglobulin VH genes.
abstract: The sequences of four embryonic mouse immunoglobulin VH genes have been compared. All genes end at codon 98 and code for a hydrophobic signal peptide of 19 residues interrupted at codon -4 by an intron of 83 base pairs. Substitutions occur in all gene segments but at a significantly higher frequency in the hypervariable regions. The data suggest an evolutionary basis for the diversity of immunoglobulin genes. Divergence resulted also in a termination codon in two of the genes, suggesting that part of the V gene repertoire cannot be expressed unless some correction mechanism is available.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000916:Antibody Diversity; D001483:Base Sequence; D001666:Binding Sites, Antibody / Q000235:genetics*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005796:Genes; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D011498:Protein Precursors